Shoreham-by-Sea is a genuinely awkward town to move in and out of, and almost none of that is about distance. There is one vehicle bridge across the Adur into the town centre, one road on and off Shoreham Beach, a working port at the Southwick end, and a row of houseboats on the river that nobody else writes removals guides about. Get the access right and it is a straightforward day. Get it wrong and you are carrying a long way. This covers what we do here, what it costs, and what actually changes between Shoreham, Southwick and Lancing.
At A Glance
Shoreham has one way in and one way out of most of it. Ferry Road is the only vehicle route on and off Shoreham Beach, and the Norfolk Bridge carries all vehicle traffic into the old town. The Adur Ferry Bridge and the Old Toll Bridge are pedestrian and cycle only, so satnav routes that look shorter frequently are not.
Adur needs five working days for a bay suspension, and charges £40 per bay. A bay here is 10 metres, which is nearly double the 5.5 metres East Sussex uses, so a Luton van usually fits in one. There is no daily charge in Adur, unlike inside the Worthing controlled parking zone.
At ESV you deal directly with Peter from first message to final box. Two movers and a van is £80 an hour, three movers and a van £110, with a two hour minimum, and we are not VAT registered so there is nothing added at the end. Fully insured with £40,000 Goods in Transit per vehicle and £5 million Public Liability. Call 07552 555 820, quote at www.eastsussexvan.com, or see recent moves on Instagram.
What Makes Removals In Shoreham-by-Sea Different?
Three things: the river, the beach and the port. The Adur splits the town and only one bridge carries vehicles into the centre. Shoreham Beach is a shingle spit with a single vehicular access road. And the Southwick end runs into a working commercial port with its own access rules. On a Shoreham-by-Sea move, planning the approach matters more than anything else on the job sheet.
We handle Shoreham removals across BN43 and the surrounding BN42 and BN15 postcodes, covering the old town, Shoreham Beach, Old Shoreham, Southwick, Fishersgate, Lancing, North Lancing and Sompting.
Shoreham Beach And The Ferry Road Problem
Shoreham Beach is the part people underestimate. It is a shingle spit running east from the harbour mouth, and Ferry Road off the Norfolk Bridge roundabout is the only way a van gets on or off it. Everything branches from Old Fort Road, and a good number of those side roads are narrow, unadopted in places, and end at the shingle rather than looping back.
What that means practically is that there is no second attempt. If the van cannot turn at the end of your road, it reverses the whole way out. We check the turning circle before the day rather than discovering it with a loaded Luton, and where a road is genuinely too tight we plan a shuttle with the Sprinter from a sensible parking point on Old Fort Road.
The property stock helps though. A lot of Shoreham Beach is single storey, rebuilt bungalows and modern architect designed houses with off street parking, which makes for a genuine one touch unload once the van is actually there.
The Adur Crossing And The Old Town
Only the A259 Norfolk Bridge takes vehicles into the town centre. The Adur Ferry Bridge and the Old Shoreham Toll Bridge are both pedestrian and cycle routes, which catches out plenty of drivers who have trusted a mapping app. If your property is east of the river and the satnav is sending us over a footbridge, that is an extra ten minutes we would rather plan for than discover.
The old town itself, around the High Street, East Street and Church Street, is historic and tight. Victorian and Georgian frontages, restricted loading in places, and pavements too narrow to stage a load on. We work these by keeping the van moving rather than parked badly, which means one person on the vehicle and the rest carrying.
Old Shoreham And The A27
North of the old town, around St Nicolas Church and Old Shoreham Road, the character changes to period cottages and larger detached properties on wider roads. Easier access, but the A27 Shoreham bypass and the Holmbush junction bottleneck predictably in commuter windows. We plan the arrival around those rather than around the mileage, because the drive from Brighton is fifteen minutes or forty depending entirely on when you set off.
Southwick, Fishersgate And The Port Edge
Southwick is a different job again. Interwar semis and terraces around Southwick Square and Southwick Green, mostly with frontage and manageable access, and then the southern edge that runs into Shoreham Port. Anything near Harbour Way or the port estate needs checking for site access rules, because a commercial port is not a public road and turning up unannounced does not work.
Fishersgate sits on the boundary with Portslade and Brighton & Hove, and this is worth flagging: cross that line and you are in a different council area with different parking rules. Adur needs five working days for a suspension. Brighton & Hove City Council needs seven. On a move that crosses the boundary you may need both, and they are not the same application.
Local Pro Tip: Tell Us If You Are on a Houseboat
Shoreham has a genuine community of houseboats moored along the Adur at Riverside Road, and moving in or out of one is nothing like moving a flat. Access is on foot along a walkway, there is no parking adjacent, the gangplank sets a hard limit on what can physically be carried aboard, and tide state changes the angle you are working at.
None of that is a problem if we know. All of it is a problem on the morning if we do not. Tell us at quote stage, send a photo of the approach and the gangplank, and we will send the right crew and the right load plan rather than a Luton and an optimistic attitude.
How Much Do Removals In Shoreham Cost?
House removals in Shoreham-by-Sea are priced by the hour locally, and our Shoreham-by-Sea house removals page has the full service detail. Two movers and a van is £80 an hour, three movers and a van is £110 an hour, with a two hour minimum. Commercial work runs to a minimum slot of £160 for two movers or £220 for three. We are not VAT registered, so the figure you are quoted is the figure you pay.
What actually moves the number here:
- Carry distance. On Shoreham Beach and in the old town this is the single biggest factor. Where the van stops decides the day.
- Volume. We quote in cubic metres. A three bedroom house is usually 20 cubic metres or more, which is the top of Luton van capacity and where a second vehicle comes in.
- Crew size. Three movers costs more per hour and frequently less in total, because the day compresses. On a long beach carry it is almost always the cheaper answer.
- Extras. Full or part packing, dismantling and reassembly, and whether beds are being rebuilt on arrival.
Moves out of the area count as long distance relocations and are priced as a fixed day rate rather than hourly. Our Edinburgh to Shoreham case study shows how one of those runs actually works.
What Shoreham Property Looks Like On Paper
The average house price in Adur was £380,000 in July 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics, local housing price data
That was up 1.3% on the year, and by property type it splits sharply: flats at £215,000, terraced at £368,000, semi detached at £445,000 and detached at £638,000. Shoreham-by-Sea itself sits above the district average, with Land Registry data putting the town nearer £460,000 over the last year and semi detached houses higher again. Southwick tracks it closely and Lancing sits meaningfully below.
The practical point for a move is that the housing mix varies a lot across three miles, so a quote for a Lancing semi tells you very little about a Shoreham Beach detached. Those figures are provisional and revised regularly, so treat them as a guide to the local mix rather than a fixed number.
Do I Need A Parking Bay Suspension In Shoreham?
Only if your street has controlled bays and there is no realistic legal stopping point nearby. Shoreham house moves fall under Adur District Council, which handles on street enforcement on behalf of West Sussex County Council.
We need at least 5 working days' notice to consider a request.
Source: Adur & Worthing Councils, parking bay suspension request
The charge in Adur is £40 per bay suspended, and a bay here is a 10 metre length. That is nearly double the 5.5 metre bay East Sussex works to, which in practice means a Luton van usually fits inside a single suspended bay rather than needing two. Adur also has no daily pay and display charge on top, unlike inside the Worthing controlled parking zone, so the cost is genuinely modest.
Five working days is the minimum rather than a target. Apply as soon as your date is confirmed. Send us your street name when you enquire and we will tell you whether you need one at all, because plenty of Shoreham Beach and Old Shoreham streets do not.
Do You Do Man and Van Work In Shoreham And Southwick?
Yes, and for a lot of Shoreham jobs it is the better value answer. Single items, one room moves, studio and one bedroom flats, marketplace collections and student moves all sit comfortably with our man and van in Shoreham rather than needing a full removal.
The Sprinter is often the right vehicle in Shoreham regardless of load size, simply because it gets down streets a Luton cannot. On the narrower Shoreham Beach roads and in parts of the old town, a smaller van with two trips frequently beats a larger van that has to park three hundred metres away.
There is a two hour minimum on local work. Beyond that the job can be as small as you like, and there is no minimum distance.
Local Pro Tip: Storage Insurance Is Not Removals Insurance
Your belongings are covered by our £40,000 Goods in Transit policy while we are loading, driving and unloading. The moment they are inside a storage unit, that is a separate arrangement with the facility.
Every managed site will either sell you contents protection or ask for proof of your own. Sort it when you book the unit rather than on the day, and tell us about any single item worth £500 or more so it is wrapped, positioned and declared properly.
Removals In Shoreham-by-Sea: A Summary
Coverage: BN43, BN42 and BN15 for removals in Shoreham-by-Sea. Shoreham old town, Shoreham Beach, Old Shoreham, Southwick, Fishersgate, Lancing, North Lancing and Sompting.
Local pricing: £80 an hour for two movers and a van, £110 for three, two hour minimum, no VAT added.
Parking: Adur District Council, five working days notice, £40 per 10 metre bay, no daily charge. Brighton & Hove needs seven working days if your move crosses the boundary.
The three access issues: Ferry Road is the only route on and off Shoreham Beach, the Norfolk Bridge is the only vehicle crossing into the old town, and the port estate has controlled access.
To quote fast: both postcodes, a room by room inventory or video walkthrough, floor levels, a frontage photo, and anything worth over £500.
Get A Quote For Your Shoreham Move
Call Peter on 07552 555 820, message on WhatsApp, or request a quote online. Send both postcodes, a rough inventory and a photo of the frontage showing where a van could stop, and we will usually come back the same day with a real price rather than a holding response. Full service detail is on our Shoreham removals page, and our completion day removals service covers key release timing. You can also see recent Shoreham move days on Instagram.
If you are moving within West Sussex or across into East Sussex, our East Sussex removals guide covers the other side of the county line, where the parking rules are different again.
Key Terms
Bay Suspension. A parking bay temporarily reserved for your removal and signed by the council in advance. In Adur, £40 per 10 metre bay with five working days notice.
Dispensation. Permission to park where you otherwise could not, such as on a yellow line, used where there is no bay to suspend.
Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ). An area where every kerbside space is permit or pay and display controlled during set hours. Adur has no daily charge inside its zone, unlike Worthing.
Unadopted Road. A road the council does not maintain or enforce on, common off Old Fort Road on Shoreham Beach. Access and turning are down to the residents rather than the highway authority.
Shuttle. Running a smaller van between the property and a larger vehicle parked nearby, used where a Luton cannot reach the door. Common on Shoreham Beach and in the old town.
One Touch Unload. Where items go straight from the van into their final position rather than being stacked in a hallway and moved again. Realistic on most Shoreham Beach bungalows if rooms are marked in advance.
Tail Lift. The powered platform on the back of our Luton that raises heavy items to floor level. It removes the ramp carry, which matters on a long Shoreham Beach load.
Cubic Metres. How we measure load volume. A one bedroom flat is typically 8 to 12, a three bedroom house 20 or more.
Goods in Transit. Cover for your belongings while they are being loaded, carried and driven. Ours is £40,000 per vehicle, and it is separate from storage contents protection.
Declaration Threshold. The value above which a single item should be flagged to us before the day. Ours is £500.
Frequently Asked Questions: Removals In Shoreham-by-Sea
How much do removals in Shoreham-by-Sea cost?
Two movers and a van is £80 an hour, three movers and a van is £110 an hour, with a two hour minimum and no VAT added to the total.
Carry distance decides the number far more than mileage does. A Shoreham Beach job where the van parks two hundred metres away can run longer than a trip to Brighton from a house with a driveway.
We quote volume in cubic metres. A one bedroom flat is typically 8 to 12 and a three bedroom house 20 or more, which is the point a second vehicle comes in. Three movers cost more per hour and frequently less in total because the day compresses, and on a long beach carry that is almost always the cheaper answer.
Moves out of the area are priced as a fixed day rate rather than hourly.
Can you get a removals van onto Shoreham Beach?
Yes, but it needs checking rather than assuming, because Ferry Road is the only vehicle route on and off the spit.
Several of the side roads off Old Fort Road are narrow, unadopted in places and end at the shingle rather than looping back, so there is no second attempt. If the van cannot turn at the end of your road, it reverses the whole way out.
Send us a photo taken from the road end looking towards the house. We check the turning circle before the day rather than discovering it with a loaded Luton, and where a road is genuinely too tight we park on Old Fort Road and shuttle with the Sprinter.
The property stock helps. Much of the Beach is single storey bungalows and modern houses with off street parking, which makes a one touch unload realistic once the van is actually there.
Do I need a parking bay suspension for a Shoreham move?
Only if your street has controlled bays and there is no realistic legal stopping point nearby.
Shoreham falls under Adur District Council, which needs at least five working days notice and charges £40 per bay suspended, with no daily pay and display charge on top.
A bay in Adur is a 10 metre length, nearly double the 5.5 metres East Sussex works to, which in practice means a Luton usually fits inside a single suspended bay rather than needing two.
If your move crosses the boundary at Fishersgate into Brighton and Hove, that council needs around seven working days and it is a separate application. Send us your street name when you enquire and we will tell you whether you need one at all, because plenty of Shoreham Beach and Old Shoreham streets do not.
Which postcodes and towns do you cover around Shoreham-by-Sea?
We cover BN43, BN42 and BN15 as standard, alongside our home postcodes of BN1 to BN3 in Brighton and Hove.
BN43 takes in the old town, Shoreham Beach and Old Shoreham, which is the core of our Shoreham-by-Sea removals patch. BN42 covers Southwick and Fishersgate. BN15 covers Lancing, North Lancing and Sompting.
Most of our work here is short hops inside the town or across to Portslade, Hove and Worthing. Local jobs are priced on time and access rather than distance, so a two mile move with a difficult carry can cost more than a ten mile one with driveways at both ends.
We also run wider Sussex work across the RH, TN and PO postcodes, and fixed day rate moves out of the county.
Can you move a houseboat on the Adur?
Yes, and we would much rather know at quote stage than on the morning.
The houseboats moored along the Adur at Riverside Road are nothing like a flat move. Access is on foot along a walkway, there is no parking adjacent, the gangplank sets a hard limit on what can physically be carried aboard, and tide state changes the angle you are working at through the day.
None of that is a problem if we know about it. All of it is a problem if we do not.
Send photos of the approach and the gangplank when you enquire, and we will send the right crew with a load plan built around the tide rather than a Luton and an optimistic attitude.
How far in advance should I book a Shoreham removal?
Two to three weeks is comfortable, and longer for a Friday or an end of month date.
If your street needs a bay suspension, work back from Adur's five working day minimum and give yourself a buffer. Five working days is the floor rather than the target, so apply as soon as your date is confirmed.
We take short notice and same day bookings when a van is free, so it is always worth asking even if a completion date has moved suddenly. Dates slipping is normal and we plan around it. Our completion day guide covers how we handle key release delays.
What time of day do you start moves in Shoreham?
We set the arrival time around the A27 and the Norfolk Bridge rather than the mileage, because the run from Brighton is fifteen minutes or forty depending entirely on when you set off.
The Shoreham bypass and the Holmbush junction bottleneck predictably in commuter windows, so on most house moves we either start early and load before the peak or plan the loaded leg outside it.
Routing matters as much as the clock. Only the A259 Norfolk Bridge carries vehicles into the old town. The Adur Ferry Bridge and the Old Shoreham Toll Bridge are pedestrian and cycle routes, so a mapping app can add ten minutes we would rather plan for than discover.
On completion day we load while you wait on keys, so the van is ready the moment the agent calls. Timing detail for the town is on our Shoreham removals page.
What size crew and van does a Shoreham move need?
Two movers and a van covers most one and two bedroom properties, and three is the right call for three bedroom houses or anything with a long carry.
Our Ford Transit Luton with tail lift is the workhorse, keeping a three bedroom house to a single trip where access allows. The Mercedes Sprinter takes single items, studios, student moves and any street a Luton cannot physically get down, which makes it our default on the tighter Shoreham Beach roads.
Past roughly 20 cubic metres, or where a shuttle is needed at one end, we run a Luton and a Sprinter together. A smaller van doing two trips frequently beats a larger van parked three hundred metres from the door.
What insurance do you carry on a Shoreham removal?
ESV carries £40,000 Goods in Transit per vehicle and £5 million Public Liability, and both apply to every job we run here.
Goods in Transit covers your belongings while we are loading, carrying, driving and unloading. Public Liability covers damage to property, which matters in the old town where frontages are Georgian and Victorian and there is no room to stage a load on the pavement.
Storage is the point that catches people out. Once your belongings are inside a unit, cover sits with that facility rather than with us, and every managed site will either sell you contents protection or ask for proof of your own. Sort it when you book the unit rather than on the day.
If a managing agent or the port estate needs our certificates before we attend, we send them across.
What should I tell you about high value items?
If any single item is valued at £500+, tell us upfront so it is wrapped, positioned and declared properly rather than discovered on the day.
That usually means artwork, mirrors, antiques, instruments, glass topped furniture and larger televisions. A photo and rough dimensions at quote stage are enough for us to plan materials and decide where the piece sits in the van.
High value pieces matter more here than in most towns because of the carry. A long walk across shingle, a shuttle run or a gangplank approach each add a handling stage, and every stage is another chance to catch a corner. Knowing in advance means we carry those items separately, keep them off the shuttle and put them straight into their final position.
Can you put my things into storage during a Shoreham move?
Yes, and booking the storage leg as part of the move means your belongings are handled once rather than twice.
We load into Henfield self storage, Big Yellow in Brighton, StorageMart, or any facility you have already chosen yourself. Storage comes up most often on completion gaps, downsizing and renovation work, where the sale and purchase dates do not line up.
Tell us at quote stage if there is a storage stage, because it changes the load order. Anything going into the unit is loaded so it comes off first, and whatever you need access to during the gap goes near the unit door rather than buried at the back.
We quote volume in cubic metres, which is how storage sites size units too, so the same figure works for both bookings. Our storage during a house move guide covers unit sizing, real costs and the insurance point in full.
Do you handle office removals around Shoreham Port?
Yes, and the port estate is the one address we need flagged early, because site access there is controlled rather than public highway and turning up unannounced does not work.
Anything near Harbour Way or inside the port needs permissions arranging in advance, so send us the unit address and a site contact when you enquire and we will sort the access side before the date.
Business units on the Dolphin Road estate and in the town centre are more straightforward. We run most office removals in Shoreham out of hours to keep your downtime down, with a minimum slot of £160 for two movers or £220 for three.
Where a business cannot close for a day, we phase the move across evenings or a weekend instead.
What do you need to quote a Shoreham move quickly?
Five things get you a real price the same day: both full postcodes, a room by room inventory or short video walkthrough, the floor level at each end, a photo of the frontage showing where a van could stop, and a note of anything worth £500 or more.
With those we can usually price the job without a site visit. Add your street name as well and we will tell you whether a bay suspension is needed at all.
If you are on Shoreham Beach, in the old town or on a houseboat at Riverside Road, the photos matter double. Where the van stops sets the length of the day, and on hourly work that is what sets the price.
Why do people choose ESV for a move in Shoreham-by-Sea?
You deal directly with Peter from first message to final box, so the person planning your access is the person who turns up on the day.
That matters more here than on an easy job. Ferry Road, the Norfolk Bridge and the port estate are all things we would rather solve at quote stage than on a morning with a loaded van, and a family run team that knows these roads plans for them by default.
Calm planning, careful handling and clear prices are the whole offer, and the work is backed by hundreds of five star Google reviews.
You can see what a Shoreham house move includes on the service page. Call Peter on 07552 555 820 or request a quote online and we will usually come back the same day. Follow @esvremovals on Instagram to see real Shoreham move days.
About The Author...
Peter Hawes is the director of ESV Removals Ltd, a family run Brighton and Sussex removals team known for calm planning, careful handling and clear prices. Peter first worked in removals in 2019, started running his own van in 2022 and incorporated ESV Removals Ltd in 2025. He holds a 2:1 BA (Hons) in English Literature and Digital Media from the University of Brighton. Peter oversees every job from first message to the last box and brings local know how for permit zones, tight stairwells and seafront buildings. ESV is fully insured with £40,000 Goods in Transit per vehicle and £5 million Public Liability, backed by hundreds of five star Google reviews and a double winner at the SME Southern Enterprise Awards 2025. The company's eco pledge covers a Euro 6, ULEZ compliant Luton, Esso Ethos+ renewable diesel where available, box reuse and paperless bookings. ESV is signed up to the Brighton & Hove Living Wage Campaign, led by Brighton Chamber, and pays every crew member at least the real Living Wage, because a valued team takes more care on every move. Learn more at www.eastsussexvan.com or follow real move days on Instagram.
